There were two training sessions before the "Birthday Bash" as Theo kept referring to it (only when Draco was out of earshot, evidently he and Blaise were keeping their invite quiet) and these meetings had only made Hermione more reluctant to be in Dracos presence for anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. Theo, of course, was the most willing of the Slytherins to learn and put his full effort into anything he was asked to do. He was never very successful at it, but at least he tried. Blaise and Pansy had proven to be quietly determined, Pansy wasn't below throwing some sarcastic words at Hermione and Neville, but the two of them were advancing well. Draco on the other hand….

First of all he was naturally athletic, much to Hermione's surprise, he wasn't frightened to throw himself around a bit and his build meant he had strength yet agility. His seeker skills transferred well to being able to catch peoples tells and react quickly. All of this ground on Hermione of course, she had been looking forward to ridiculing him like he did when she was in school. However the real issue was his smugness, in which he was more than happy to parade around. While Neville could block out his snarky remarks and smug smirks Hermione couldn't stop herself from getting into full scale arguments over it all. Quite frankly, him breathing the same air as her was enough to piss her off, and the fact she was spending so much time with him in her personal space, training was just more than she could stomach.

With these feelings hanging over her like a dark cloud she had spent the time between these sessions feigning several illnesses in hopes she could talk her way out of having to go to Malfoy's party. Neville completely ignored her every time she tried to make an excuse, and Luna would tell her some random natural remedy that would make her better in no time. So not only did she find herself sitting in their normal meet up spot rather than back at the camp sulking, she had had to drink some sort of vial tea that Luna had made to settle her 'upset stomach' that she hadn't had until she drank said tea, and now felt rather queasy.

It really should not be this difficult to get out of a birthday party in the middle of a bloody war…

She was so consumed with steeping in her sour mood she didn't hear when Theo and Blaise approached, nor did she move to greet them as Neville and Luna did. Theo clearly lacked the ability to read the room and pulled her into a bone crushing hug, "Hello grumpy, smile, it's probably already happened and theres fuck all we can do about it."

She let out a laugh as he released her, she had grown very fond of the wizard and he never failed to put a smile on her face. More than once she had wished that she had got to know him while they were in school, though she knew that she never would have been open to a friendship with any 'snakes' back then. Getting to know these four had made her realise that yes, they were brought up to hate her but she had let herself judge eleven year olds simply from where a dusty old hat put them. The more she had thought on the traits of Slytherin house (bar all the pureblood nonsense), she realised that there really was nothing to say you had to be an evil asshole to be in it. She always thought herself open minded and very clever, but she had allowed those around her to muddy her views and encourage her opinions on others. In fact, more than once, she had been witness to first years being booed when sorted into Slytherin. She would have probably grown to hate those of non-magical blood too if the only ones that accepted her were the ones preaching pureblood supremacy. After getting to know this lot she had realised that they had all had equally shitty times in school, and that at least in Theo and Pansy's case, very shitty childhoods. Blaise was still a mystery to her, unwilling to ever get too personal in conversation, and well, they all knew Draco was a spoiled brat and his mother worshipped the ground he walked on.

"Earth to Granger" Blaise was waving his hand in her face and she looked at him questioningly, she had absolutely no idea what they had been talking about. "Are you going with Theo or me?"

"Huh?"

"Apparating, are you going with Theo or me?" His mouth quirked into a charming smile, one she noticed Luna mirroring as she took hold of his arm. Interesting.

"Oh, whatever, Theo I guess?"

"That's my girl!" Theo said as he took hold of her hand, then winked at Neville as he placed his other hand on Nevilles shoulder. "Hold tight!"

With that, Hermione felt the familiar sensation of magic course through her, along with the squeezing sensation of apparition. She had missed feeling magic in her veins, however she would have very happily experienced it in any other way than this form of travel, it was unpleasant to say the least. When she was able to take a breath again she found herself in a living room with minimal decor, but the pieces looked antique and expensive. If she hadn't felt like her organs were trying to escape her mouth she would have rolled her eyes at the fact this lot managed to keep so many of their comforts even when the world was going to pieces.

Neville wasn't so fortunate, he managed to throw up over the floor and look thoroughly green afterwards.

"I'm sorry, it's been a hell of a long time." He mumbled while Blaise waved his wand and vanished the mess.

"Honey, we're home!" Theo called out, and both Pansy and Draco walked into the room in deep conversation completely unaware of their visitors. It was Pansy that noticed first, a grin appearing on her face as she registered who Theo and Blaise had brought with them. In that very moment Hermione knew she was right in not wanting to come, that smile wasn't because she was happy to see them, that smile was because of the way Draco was going to react.

He must have seen it too, as he whipped his head in their direction and glared at them.

"Happy day of birth Draco!" Luna said, and as she spoke Draco's face fell even further into a scowl. Blaise and Theo were as still as statues bar the twitching of their lips, clearly trying to contain their laughter. It was Pansy that broke first, going into an uncharacteristically hearty laugh, "Look Draco, they've brought your friends to play!" she got out through fits of giggles.

Neville gave Hermione a knowing look and they grinned at each other, thoroughly enjoying the fact that they were able to be part of annoying Malfoy. They had been under no impression that they would be greeted warmly by him, and were pleasantly surprised that Pansy seemed more amused and annoyed at their presence in their home.

"Oh games, how delightful!" Luna chimed in, which just sent Pansy into more of a laughing fit. Draco shook his head and went to head back up the hallway, however quick as a flash Theo was blocking his path.

"Draco sit the hell down and stop huffing, these lot came to get pissed with us and try to celebrate the miracle of your big head being birthed!" He said as he started to manoeuvre a very reluctant Draco towards the small dining table, "If you behave we might even give you some cake."

Everyone slowly started to make themselves more comfortable, ignoring Malfoy's grumbling, and the drinks started to flow. It almost brought Hermione back to the days after a Quidditch match when the Gryffindor common room would be full of her house mates, drinking and joking and enjoying the celebrations. There was no question that the house's gatherings were very different though, there was always a slight air of reservation around the slytherins even as they laughed and shared stories together. Hermione couldn't stop the slight twinge of sadness that was pulling at her heart, the fact she sat with these people who had made her childhood a living nightmare, that had been part of the group of people who robbed her of her friends. That they had all survived, were living in semi luxury, while Harry's body was cold in the ground. She tried desperately to push her occlumency walls up and bury these thoughts and feelings, but the warm buzz of alcohol was making it slightly more difficult to keep them up.

As she looked over at Neville she could see he was lost in thought as well, and following his line of vision she could see him watching Pansy who had curled up on one of the sofas and was looking out the balcony doors. Pansy had been relatively reserved every time they had seen her after Kingsleys death, and Neville had brought it up on more than one occasion. The war had hardened Neville, but he still couldn't stand to see someone look like they were lost.

Her eyes snapped back to him as he grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey from the coffee table in front of him, and after a second's hesitation, he walked over and sat with Pansy. They stayed silent for a few moments before they started to speak in quiet tones. Hermione's natural curiosity made her want to go over and join them, but she knew Neville wouldn't thank her for it. Pansy was slightly more bearable to be around than Malfoy, but she definitely did not enjoy Hermione's company and she made absolutely no effort to hide it. So instead of interrupting she tried to pull her focus back to the rest of the group.

Luna was something else altogether and Blaise had never met someone so full of light as she was. The little witch had made her way through more elf made wine than anyone else and yet seemed to become more sober the more she drank, there was less talk of Nargles and more talk about their recent efforts with how to draw on old magic. She really was quite brilliant, batty, but brilliant.

After Theo's third comment about not talking shop at a party Blaise had ushered her away from their card game to talk to her without interruption. Anyone that knew him knew he wasn't one for small talk, he preferred to observe than be in the middle of a conversation, however he found he very much enjoyed his time with her. A part of him, at the very back of his mind, knew why he was so drawn to her but it wasn't until this evening he had fully connected the dots.

His mother had once been so similar to Luna, not in her fascination with mythical creatures, but in her light hearted and whimsical character. The ability to make you feel comfortable and in the moment was so uncanny in its resemblance and Blaise couldn't help but cling to it. A feeling lost years ago, when his mothers second husband had changed things forever. His mothers personality now, she had become cold and calculated, and he could help feel immense guilt that he had played a part in diminishing the light in her.

Even when Blaises father, his mothers first husband, had died of dragon pox, her light had shone. She had been the one to comfort her distraught four year old, had built pillow forts to 'block out' the bad energy, had sat while they picked out which star shining down on them was his father. She had been the centre of Blaises universe, slowly stitching up all the broken pieces his fathers death had left behind. Therefore when she finally introduced Blaise to the man who would become his step father he had been unbelievably happy to see her no longer alone. Little did either of them know that that man had picked his mother not for her brilliance, but because she had a young son, and that was what he truly desired.

It took six months from when he first moved into their home for his mother to finally get Blaise to tell her what was going on, it took a total of six minutes for his mother to change forever.

Muggle poisons are funny things, the magical authorities never bothered to see if a pureblood woman would ever dip her toe in that method of murder. His once flamboyant, carefree mother became a cold, calculated murderer from that day. She had told Blaise years later that what her second husband had done had made her realise she would never let anyone take advantage of them again, that she would lie and manipulate men so they could have a good home and stable income, she would take from them so they could not take from her or her son.

The worst part of it was how good she was at her new found career. Everyone had their suspicions as to what she was up to, but somehow she still managed to make men fall head over heels for her, and she even more skillfully managed to leave no tangible evidence behind as each new husband met their maker. No, all that was left behind were the wills, all their assets falling into the hands of the Zabini matriarch.

Meanwhile Blaise had not only lost his father, but his innocence, and the mother he knew. The only thing that had prevented him from spiralling was the others who lived in this house with him.

To have someone show up who was the embodiment of the things he missed most was like a craving had suddenly been fulfilled. Self preservation was a trait he had always prided himself in, it was the reason he had never crumbled no matter what he had lived through, but as he listened to Luna talk about her research into the old magics he realised that he would throw himself in front of Death itself to keep her exactly the way she was.

Somehow Hermione had found herself stuck at the table with Draco and Theo, they had opted to pull out the chess board and she watched as Theo's king was smashed into little pieces. It was pretty evident from the lazy way in which Draco had commanded his players that he was quietly confident in his ability to win against his friend, and equally as apparent as Theo just sighed and waited for his king to reform before he began to reset the board. Hermione was good at a lot of things but wizarding chess had always seemed just a bit too brutal for her own tastes, in fact her experience in first year with McGonagall's creation had been enough to make sure she never bothered to play. Instead, she sat and observed the two while making her way through yet another measure of Firewhiskey.

"Do we really need to bother with another game? You know I'm just going to win, you can't play chess for shit mate." Draco goaded Theo.

"I can play you prat!" Theo's pout was so childlike it made Hermione chuckly. "Not my fault Lucius always gave you the extra pointers when he was teaching us!"

"Ah I see where you got confused Theo, he didn't give me 'extra' anything he just knew you well enough to not try to overload that extremely small brain of yours with anything but the basics." It was odd to see a smirk on Malfoy's face that didn't hold malice behind it as he bantered with Theo. Even more odd to hear them talk about Lucius Malfoy with some form of fondness between them. She couldn't quite picture the head of the Malfoys sitting down and spending time teaching these two boys how to play games, although he probably did enjoy the strategy behind it all. Slimy git.

"You know he always wished he could have had me as his heir mate, he had to give you extra lessons cause he hoped you would finally be able to reach my level of perfection." Theo shot back, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Not hard to imagine someone wishing they had you rather than Malfoy really…" Hermione muttered as she lifted her glass to her mouth. Theo chuckled, but Malfoy sharply turned his attention to her with a look that could kill.

"I don't remember asking for your opinion, Granger." He snarled.

"I don't remember needing to be granted permission to make an observation, Malfoy." She bit back.

"I put up with a lot of your comments, Granger, but don't even try to joke about my family, do you understand? Just keep them out of your mouth, even better, don't even think about them."

"Bit touchy there aren't we? Lighten up, it's your birthday!" She raised her glass in mock celebration, "Speaking of those who had the misfortune of producing you, I'm surprised this place isn't filled with gifts for their precious little ferret. Or are they planning to show up and make sure you are spoiled with an audience? They did so love to put on a show with the countless owls delivering parcels in the great hall all those years ago. Perhaps they've caught on that daddy dearest mini me isn't all that into their precious dark lord and you've been cut off from the family faults this year?" She really did know she was being more of a bitch than needs be, but the more alcohol she had consumed the more she couldn't stand the fact she was within Malfoys fascinity and it was Theo that snapped her out of her tirade.

"That's enough!" He growled, the tone of his voice shocked her into silence, she was so shocked that she didn't register Draco getting up from the table until she heard the slam of a door behind her. Theos eyes did not hold a single bit of the humour or sparkle she normally found there, and the contrast was rather unsettling. He took a deep breath before he continued, "Hermione...Draco's parents are dead", there was an unmistakable tone of grief in his words as he spoke them and Hermione felt horrible at making him feel that way.

"What happened?" She almost whispered, torn between the way Theo had looked, the words she had said to Malfoy, but also the slight hint of vindication she felt at the older Malfoys being gone. She had been in an emotionless pit for so long, uncaring about how her words and actions were received by those around her that it was difficult for to reconcile her conflicting emotions with the situation.

Theo lifted his near empty tumbler to his lips, draining it before he responded to her. The harshness was gone from his eyes, his face had softened to give way to an unmistakable sadness.

"Potter happened… 'Cissa tried to save him, she lied about him being dead. You can only imagine the Dark Lord's response to that I'm sure." He looked lost in a memory for a moment, shaking his head as if to clear it "It's not my story to tell Hermione. All I will say is they showed that their love was more important than following orders, and Lucius chose his wife over his own life."

"I don't understand, they believed all that pureblood shit Theo. They made that clear to me, who was only a teenager at the time, hell I was barely a teenager the first time they made their prejudices known." She couldn't help the slight anger that crept into her voice, she refused to believe those people could have been anything but the monsters she had grown up being judged by.

"I know why it would be hard for you to see it, but the Malfoys were the best bloody parents out of every single one of our families," Theo gestured round the room, "They had their flaws, hell they had a lot of them as did we, but they did love fiercely. You know 'Cissa actually told the Dark Lord that as she waited to be killed, that love would always be his downfall." A sad smile crept onto his face at that.

"So he killed them both? Made Lucius choose?"

"He killed Lucius, Bellatrix killed her sister." It sounded like he had a lump in his throat as he spoke Bellatrix name, Hermione couldn't blame him, she still had an involuntary shudder of anger go through her body anytime she heard it.

"Well fuck…" She said as she lifted the bottle of firewhiskey and emptied it into their glasses. They both lent back in their seats and downed their drinks in one.

"Well fuck indeed." Theo responded and they sunk into a silence for a few moments before Hermione pushed out of her seat.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Theo cautioned as he watched her head towards the door Draco had disappeared behind, knowing full well his friend would not be in the position to accept an apology and not entirely sure Hermione would be able to bring herself to offer one.

Instead of responding to Theo she continued towards the door, taking a breath to steady herself and fix her resolve. She had lost both her parents, and as much as she hated Malfoy and his family, she would never have intentionally mocked the dead. She fought against the nagging thoughts to just listen to Theo and knocked.

When there was no response Hermione opened the door cautiously and saw Draco on the side of the bed with his head in his hands. She quietly closed the door and took a deep breath before she spoke,

"I'm sorry I didn't know..."

"Go away" he snapped without looking up.

"No Malfoy, I want you to listen to me for one bloody second." Her brief moment of guilt quickly was buried under her annoyance, "I didn't bloody well know what happened to them, excuse me for not thinking you'd be the right hand man to the maniac that slaughtered your parents!"

"You have no idea what you are talking about Granger, just leave me the fuck alone!"

"I wasn't finished!" She growled, "you are still walking around acting like you are fucking king of the castle yet are surprised no one thinks something is wrong! If you stopped acting better than everyone else maybe they would think you have a shred of humanity in you!".

He laughed, a full stomach laugh, before looking at her "you're one to talk, going on at me about humanity when you are walking round killing everything you see."

He's wrong, he's wrong, he's wrong.

"Now look who has no idea what they're talking about. You have no idea what we have been through, what I have been through!"

"That goes both ways Granger. Now get the fuck out of my room, and out of my house!" The venom in his words was palatable. "Happy fucking birthday to me yea? Close the door on your way out"

"You, Draco Malfoy, are the same disgusting person you were at eleven, and you deserved everything that happened to you!" She shouted, he cast a silencing charm before standing up and rolling his shoulders.

"You know absolutely nothing Granger! You prance around filling every space so no one else feels like they can breathe under your presence. You act like you feel fucking nothing, like you are some sort of machine. You look down your nose at everyone around you while thinking you have them all figured out. But you don't. You know nothing about any of us. Your stupid Gryffindor bravery would have crumbled over what we have went through, so shut the hell up!"

She froze at his response, everything he said described him not her. However she was fully aware that she had more than a little alcohol in her system and that she was in a silenced room with a seething Malfoy. She just wanted to get out and get home, she was sick and tired of playing these games with him and she would do anything to put distance between them at this moment. Yet again she was reminded why she didn't want to be here in the first place, so she did the only thing she could to get out of there quickly, and tried to appease the situation.

"I'm sorry you lost your parents, but I will never be sorry they are dead. They were part of the reason we live like this, they made their choice before you were even born and they continued to make it when HE came back." She tried to rein in her frustration, how could someone see monsters like that as parents.

"Just shut up Granger!" Draco was seething.

"You don't get to boss me aro..."

"I said, SHUT THE FUCK UP GRANGER!" Draco was practically foaming at the mouth as he entered right into her personal space in two strides, fisting her shirt in his hands as he glared at her.

"No." she responded, she wouldn't step back and she sure as hell wasn't cowering to him because he was close. "Who the hell do you think you are? Where do you get off throwing your weight around."

Before she knew it he had pushed her against the wall, his eyes reflected pure hatred as he spoke "you don't have a fucking clue what you are talking about, keep my parents names out of your filthy fucking mouth."

The next words were a mistake, childish really, but that was where this rivalry had all started wasn't it? Two preteens unwilling to succumb to the others opinion, too headstrong to ever even bother finding a middle ground. At least, looking back, that's what she would blame it on.

"Or what Malfoy?"

His hands moved to cage her against the wall, he bit the inside of his cheek for a moment before he spoke. The tone was almost guttural, his eyes moved to her lips and a smirk started to form before he met her gaze again, "Do you really think it's smart for a little lion cub to challenge a venomous snake?"

Quick as lightning Hermione managed to switch their positions, Draco now against the wall with his hands pinned to his sides and the smug expression dissolving from his face. She lent up on her tiptoes and brought her mouth mere inches from his ear, "how careless of you to forget we are both predators."

With that she exited the room, intent on gathering the others and leaving.

What the bloody hell had that been about...

As Theo and Blaise apparated them back to their meeting spot Hermione turned to Theo, determined to let Draco know despite her leaving he hadn't affected her in the way he had wanted to. The idea of him thinking he had won made her skin crawl.

"Theo? Will you tell Draco that the effects would depend on the snake? In his theory earlier he mentioned the effects of the poison, but he forgot that the potency and timing is important too. I think he will find the venom would have no effect whatsoever on the target after so many years of exposure."

"Swots" Theo said while rolling his eyes, but he was giving her an affectionate grin, "of course you two would start talking academics at a party!"

She huffed a laugh, "Something like that."

Linking her arms with Neville and Luna, she turned away from the two men, heading back to camp, and towards her bed.